Faux Tobias Wong at Design, Wit and the Creative Act
It’s been confirmed. The tall blond was a stand-in for the real Tobias Wong at Design, Wit and the Creative Act, hosted by Core77.
Quote from an e-mail…
Yes, you are correct. The guy who said he was Tobias Wong at the conference was not. [X] and I got the info from a woman who was helping at the conference when we were walking out. Apparently, they really organized it and practiced the questions ahead of time so that he would answer them to sound like Tobias Wong.
So, dear design community, you’ve been duped (and so have I).
As I wrote in my as-yet-unanswered e-mail to Ze Frank earlier today, seeking confirmation about the hoax…
“Though I am not personally a fan of being played for a fool, I get the joke. It’s a commentary on the nature of popularity through art and not through your own person. A commentary on how trust operates, a la Clay Shirky’s notion of social capital. And a commentary on how people in the art world are suckers.
I’m very surprised that those who are actually involved in the industry and claimed to be familiar with his work prior to the conference didn’t say a word. Only one other person who I talked to during cocktail hour mentioned being surprised at his uber-American appearance, but that’s where the conversation stopped. Oh the poor boy who had ‘Tobias’ sign his poster… he’ll feel like such a dope. Not to mention the others who gathered around him with praise and questions.”
The tall guy you saw is one of Tobias’s friends who is also a designer — Rama Chorpash. He’s one of the professors at UArts. Plus if you think about that really is what all of Tobias’s work is about. If you look at his body of work and really think about it maybe you’ll appreciate it more?
Beck, thank you for your comment. I understand how it relates to his work. I would never have even suspected that it was a trick if I hadn’t been thinking about the CC iPhone project. Only when I realized that we were dealing with a person who says bollocks to the boundaries of privacy and respect (among others) through his work did I realize that it was likely a hoax. So I would say I appreciate the relationship it has to his work, but still don’t and will not appreciate the joke — mostly because things like the CC project leave an equally bitter taste in my mouth.